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In this episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, we sit down with Dave Marquess, creator of Relapse vs Recovery, a recovery-based card game, to discuss his extraordinary journey through addiction, incarceration, and ultimately finding purpose in sobriety. Growing up in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, Dave was surrounded by addiction from an early age. With both parents struggling with substance abuse, his childhood was marked by instability, chaos, and exposure to drugs. By his early teens, Dave was already experimenting with PCP, eventually spiraling into years of heroin and cocaine addiction, drug dealing, incarceration, and life-threatening experiences. From smoking PCP before school to calling his own mother to learn how to inject heroin, Dave opens up about the devastating realities of addiction and the environment that shaped his early life. After enduring brutal withdrawals, repeated encounters with the law, and countless rock-bottom moments, he eventually reached a turning point that changed the course of his life. Today, approaching a decade of sobriety, Dave has transformed his experiences into something meaningful. As the creator of Relapse vs Recovery, a satirical card game inspired by the realities of addiction and recovery, he's using humor, creativity, and shared experiences to bring people together and make sober living more engaging. Throughout this conversation, we explore generational addiction, the psychological toll of substance abuse, the challenges of rebuilding a life in recovery, and how Dave turned some of his darkest experiences into a creative outlet that helps others connect, laugh, and heal. Dave's story is a powerful reminder that no matter how far addiction takes someone, recovery is possible, and sometimes finding purpose means learning to laugh along the way. Connect with Dave Marquess: Instagram: @relapsevsrecoverygame Follow The Hopeaholics Podcast: Instagram: @thehopeaholics Subscribe for more conversations about addiction, recovery, mental health, and stories of hope. #TheHopeaholics #DaveMarquess #RelapseVsRecovery #AddictionRecovery #HeroinAddiction #Sobriety #RecoveryIsPossible #MentalHealthAwareness Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie

At the height of her addiction, Abbey Fickley lost custody of her daughter to her own parents. Then, in one of the most painful turning points of her life, her father pressed felony charges against her. What followed was a journey through addiction, motherhood, sobriety, and the difficult reality of rebuilding a life in recovery. In this powerful episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, we sit down with Abbey Fickley, a mother and recovery advocate, to discuss the devastating impact of substance abuse on her family, the heartbreak of losing custody of her daughter, and the life-changing decisions that ultimately pushed her toward sobriety. Abbey opens up about navigating addiction as a single mother, the consequences of substance use disorder, and the complicated role of tough love in addiction recovery. When her parents stepped in to protect her daughter, Abbey was forced to confront the reality of her addiction and the damage it was causing to the people she loved most. She also reflects on her father's decision to press felony charges against her, a painful experience that became a pivotal moment in her recovery journey. Through accountability, healing, and a commitment to change, Abbey began rebuilding her life and repairing the relationships that addiction had impacted. This conversation goes beyond addiction and sobriety. It's about motherhood, family intervention, generational healing, forgiveness, and what it truly takes to break free from the cycle of addiction. For anyone struggling with addiction, navigating recovery as a parent, or loving someone battling substance abuse, Abbey's story is a reminder that even when everything feels lost, recovery and a different future are possible. Watch this powerful conversation with Abbey Fickley on The Hopeaholics Podcast. Subscribe for more real conversations about addiction recovery, mental health, sobriety, family relationships, and second chances. #AbbeyFickley #AddictionRecovery #TheHopeaholics Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com

At 18 years old, Ian Bick was running a nightclub and booking major artists. Just a few years later, everything came crashing down — leaving him facing massive debt, federal charges, and ultimately three years in federal prison. In this episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, Ian Bick shares the unbelievable rise, fall, and comeback that completely changed the course of his life. Ian opens up about the pressure of finding success so young, the decisions that led to his federal conviction, what life was really like behind bars, solitary confinement, and the reality of rebuilding your life after prison. But Ian’s story didn’t end there. After his release, he eventually turned his experiences into a platform for second chances, redemption, and conversations about the criminal justice system. Today, he is the host of Locked In with Ian Bick, where he sits down with former inmates, law enforcement, attorneys, victims, and others to tell stories from every side of the system. This is a conversation about ambition, consequences, accountability, resilience, and what it takes to rebuild after losing everything. $1.2 MILLION in Debt & Facing Federal Prison with Ian Bick | The Hopeaholics Rereleased CHECK OUT IAN BICK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@ianbickCT  Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: PODCAST HOPEAHOLICS for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie

In this re-released episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast #109, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes shares warnings about fentanyl, the rise of counterfeit pills and the programs his department developed as the crisis grew. Sheriff Don Barnes has spent more than 35 years in law enforcement and has been confronting the fentanyl crisis in Orange County since his department began seeing the drug in 2015.  Barnes discusses naloxone deployment by deputies, medication-assisted treatment inside the jail, reentry programs, counterfeit pills sold as Xanax, Percocet and Adderall, social media drug sales, youth drug education, mental health crisis response and why he believes there is no single solution to fentanyl. We Should Have Seen the Fentanyl Crisis Coming w/ Sheriff Don Barnes | Re-Release #109 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00:00 Intro 0:05:54 Orange County starts seeing fentanyl in 2015 0:13:41 Addiction treatment inside the Orange County Jail 0:16:15 Prop 47, drug arrests and consequences for addiction 0:23:56 Marijuana, psychosis and the developing brain 0:29:19 Addiction, mental illness and homelessness 0:32:31 Why short insurance stays fail people in treatment 0:36:55 Reentry, relapse risk and counterfeit pills 0:41:35 "If it's not from a pharmacist, it's fentanyl" 0:50:02 Kids selling fentanyl and the changing drug market 0:52:39 Cartels, trafficking and border security 1:00:45 Overdose vs. poisoning 1:05:38 Fentanyl dealers, murder charges and criminal liability 1:12:13 Barnes recalls years of warnings about fentanyl 1:18:36 How Narcan races against fentanyl 1:25:59 What Orange County's death investigations show about addiction 1:36:20 Fentanyl deaths among teens and talking to your kids 1:52:51 The arrest Barnes says helped change one man's life 2:01:24 Mental health stigma and Orange County's Be Well centers 2:16:11 Chad: "This is a podcast that I wish never existed" 2:19:45 Chad thanks the deputies who helped save his life 2:22:43 Preventable deaths, education and final thoughts

Retired Long Beach Fire Captain James Owen spent his career running toward other people’s emergencies while addiction, trauma, and post-traumatic stress were building behind the badge. In this episode of The Hopeaholics, James opens up about the murder of his close friend and fellow firefighter Captain Dave Rosa, surviving a motorcycle crash that broke his neck, losing and rebuilding his sobriety, and the realization that ultimately changed his life: after spending his career trying to save everyone else, the last patient he needed to save was himself. James joined the Long Beach Fire Department and built the career he had dreamed about, eventually becoming a fire captain. But as the job became more of his identity, his recovery began to disappear. After years of sobriety, James found himself drinking again while dealing with divorce, overwhelming stress, internal investigations, traumatic calls, and the cumulative weight of life as a first responder. James also discusses first responder PTSD and suicide, Alcoholics Anonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA), nonlinear recovery, alternative recovery modalities, the importance of continuing to seek new ways to heal, and his book, The Last Patient. Firefighter PTSD, Addiction & the Cost of Being "Tough" w/ James Owen | The Hopeaholics Podcast #363

Rachel Sereni is co-host of the 2 Girls in a Chair podcast and sober for over 2 years. She grew up mostly alone with her little sister while their dad worked two jobs, because their mother was addicted to opiates and spent most of Rachel's early childhood nodding out on the couch. Rachel got a DUI after she left work early to drink and forgot to pick up her son from school, woke up in jail with her car impounded and her son at his grandma's house. By the end of her drinking she was 221 pounds, had over 32 W2s because she couldn't hold a job, and was blacking out most nights and cursing out her husband without remembering any of it. On April 10th, 2024, she drove to a parking lot with a bottle of wine and two shooters for one last hurrah, got halfway through the wine, started throwing a tantrum in her front seat and almost kicked her windshield in. She got out, threw everything into a field, and landed on her knees sobbing. She drove home, woke up April 11th, and that was her sobriety date. She's been sober since, lost 80 pounds, and chose April 11th as the date she married her husband. Rachel also announces an amazing surprise for the very first time in our show's history! Check out the 2 Girls In A Chair podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@2GirlsInaChair Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 00:00 — Intro 04:00 — Pregnancy Announcement 08:00 — Day one of sobriety: got on the scale, saw 221 13:29 — In and out of halfway homes with Mom 15:14 — Mom came back at 11 16:57 — Mom had numerous overdoses 17:31 — The night mom died 21:51 — Daily drinking by 19; violent, fighting people; 22:20 — Found out she was pregnant 23:33 — The friend nobody wanted to go out with 24:18 — Left work early to drink; forgot to pick son up; woke up in jail 29:40 — The surrender moment 31:39 — Friend did an intervention while she was the one who got Rachel drunk 33:17 — Started 2 Girls in a Chair with Jessica 36:41 — She thought she'd never genuinely laugh again 37:49 — Addiction doesn't have to define your whole personality 43:55 — "I married the love of my life the day I got my life back." 46:41 — Grief in sobriety 47:24 — Started EMDR for PTSD from seeing her mom's body 50:47 — Not continuing EMDR while pregnant 53:33 — What you feel during pregnancy, the baby feels 54:33 — Her son forgives her 57:22 — Blackout drinking 57:47 — How alcohol is glamorized vs what it actually is 1:02:19 — AA experiences mirror bad church experiences 1:07:04 — How she and Jessica met 1:09:14 — Grew up with no mother; all mother figures have passed

Jesse Sanchez was 11 the first time he smoked weed, 14 when he tried cocaine and opiates, and 17 when he looked up from a carpet covered in crack and thought "holy s***, what are we doing." He eventually landed on heroin as his drug of choice and spent three years hiding it from his wife, driving 4.5 hours round trip to his dealer while she thought he was at work, once using a co-worker's real funeral as cover to go pick up. When she finally found out, he ended up on his sister's couch in Washington sweating it out, then a year in AA still drinking, still taking chips for heroin. He's been six years off heroin, four years fully clean. Six months into his final sobriety, his brother Julian had died from fentanyl poisoning. The depression that followed got dark enough that when the thought of taking his son with him crossed his mind, it scared him into finally getting real help. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00    — Into 2:07    — The shirt: in memory of Julian 7:43    — Parents divorced when he was 2 8:14    — Age 11: first smoked weed with a friend, not his brother 10:06   — Age 14: no weed around, tried cocaine 13:17   — Age 17: became a crackhead 14:12   — Opiates vs everything else 17:15   — When pills got scarce, friends switched to heroin 18:06   — Met his wife from Ukraine 23:17   — Wife caught him, admitted pills, never mentioned heroin 32:37   — Used a co-worker's real funeral as cover to go pick up drugs 34:30   — Confessing addiction to wife 42:45   — Detoxing at sister's house 45:18   — 6 years off heroin, never touched it since 46:04   — Tried AA while still drinking 51:22   — Relapsed on cocaine at work, told his sponsor 55:24   — Mom calls to tell me my brother died 58:20   — 800-pound steel tube cut his fingertips off on the job 1:04:39 — Staying sober through brother's death 1:09:05 — Rock bottom in sobriety 1:17:33 — What turned the corner: therapy, EMDR 1:21:06 — What you tell your sponsor vs what you tell a therapist

Jessica Nolin is a content creator, recovery advocate, and co-host of 2 Girls in a Chair podcast. Jessica's dad dealt drugs her entire childhood and helped manage her anxiety by giving her a vodka orange at 12 along with random pills she didn't even know the names of. By 15 she was drinking daily. A few years ago she detoxed at home alone over nine days without telling anyone, sleeping an hour at a time, still showing up to work and helping customers on the sales floor between rounds of throwing up. What got her through it was sheer will and a decision she made going in that she wasn't going to be ashamed of it. After those nine days she started figuring out what sobriety actually looked like for her and found an Instagram community of people in recovery just by putting herself out there during a dry January and posting every day. Today she has two years sober, a genuine support system, and is continuing to share her experiences and spread her message with her content.  Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #mystory  #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 01:12 — Jessica Nolin 04:38 — Parents were 17 and 18 05:27 — Struggling with anxiety and depression 06:28 — First drink at 12: dad gave her a vodka orange for her anxiety 11:46 — Living in dad's trap house 19:24 — Hair falling out, throwing up every day 25:42 — Grandpa and dad sold drugs 30:00 — Moment of clarity 31:47 — Nine days of home detox 33:46 — What's kept her sober 35:49 — Radical self-acceptance 36:46 — How she met Rachel and started their podcast 42:58 — Dad is still using; relationship with mom is better now 43:48 — Why she does this

Adam Wittbrodt is a personal trainer and recovery advocate. He grew up with an alcoholic father who walked out on his 12th birthday and died before Adam turned 19. Carrying grief Adam spent the next decade and a half burying under IV heroin, forged checks, and 8 felonies. One day he collapsed at the front desk where he worked after injecting what he thought was heroin. It was laced with fentanyl and cocaine. A hotel guest walked in at exactly the right moment and called 911. Three weeks into county jail after that, he heard himself tell his cellmate he was pissed that the paramedics had saved him. That was the break. He went through Midland County Recovery Court, then treatment at Harbor Hall in Petoskey. Sober June 22nd, 2016. He has 10 years, runs a personal training operation with 100+ clients, a fitness and recovery program inside the Midland County Juvenile Justice Center, and co-hosts the Level Up Life podcast. I Used To Do Heroin At Work Now I'm 10 Years Sober w/ Adam Wittbrodt | The Hopeaholics Podcast #359 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00   — Intro 0:58   — Adam Wittbrodt 11:59  — Cigarettes at 13 to IV heroin 12:53  — First Vicodin prescription at 14 14:50  — "Maybe if I do what my dad did, I'll understand him" 16:34  — Dad dies; $10K in life insurance gone in a month 18:29  — First 90 days in jail at 21 21:06  — The Curry Hotel: 3 × 80mg Oxy loaded into one shot 23:24  — Conning doctors 25:08  — 23 months to 14 years 30:00  — Grandmother dying in the ICU 31:20  — Using laced Heroine at work  33:06  — It was fentanyl and cocaine: just hitting the market in 2016 33:52  — Survivor's remorse: "Why was I saved?" 35:42  — The ER should treat addiction like a diabetic emergency 52:32  — 7th and 8th felonies, $500K bond 1:03:23 — 10 years sober; 210 meetings in 210 days 1:14:37 — Building the personal training business 1:15:48 — The Rebuild Program 1:19:52 — 300 fentanyl deaths a day: why he thinks he was saved

At 18 Riley moved to LA, got into the adult entertainment industry, made fast money, found cocaine & alcohol, and ran that combination through her entire 20s.  In 2023 she got pregnant but couldn't stop using. She missed 2 Christmases that she blamed on her daughter being sick when it was Riley being hungover. Riley's breaking point was being in closet at 4am doing coke, convinced there were people in her house that weren't there, called 911, the operator told her to get some sleep and hung up, and she grabbed her daughter and drove 80 miles an hour to her ex's parents' house to try and convince them they needed safety. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 00:00 Intro 01:40 Riley Jensen 06:40 The family disease 08:32 Doing P*** at 18yo 14:14 First attempt at sobriety 16:23 Pregnant and couldn't stop 18:28 Post partum addiction 20:06 Going Into Psychosis 22:33 Walking into AA, 3 times a day, the first 60 days 31:55 First sober airplane and vacation 35:51 80-year-old sponsor 39:43 Dad chaired her first meeting 43:18 Breaking the cycle 56:24 "This is me. This is the real Erica."

Nate Block is a professional crisis de-escalation instructor with Jumpstart Mastery, traveling the country to train correctional departments and agencies on how to work with people in crisis. Nate dropped out of high school and spent the years that followed bouncing between apartments, bar shows, and eventually a college town he moved to chasing a girl, working odd jobs and drinking past the point where it felt like a choice, past the point where it was the only thing that made him feel like he was worth being alive. At 19 he made his first suicide attempt, and he'd make 3 more over the years that followed. Today Nate is 13 years sober and he's 60 days into "The Weight We Carry," a rucking challenge he built from scratch where he adds 1lb into a pack and runs a mile until he can't anymore; for 1 goal: to force men to talk about suicide. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00:00 Intro 0:05:26 Oklahoma City bombing 0:08:48 "Childhood ends the moment you realize your own mortality" 0:14:16 Finding out he was adopted at 12 0:17:44 First drink at 13: punk rock and playing bars at 15 0:25:57 A friend is killed, dropout at 15 0:32:10 Drinking was the only thing that made me feel worthy 0:33:03 4 close call suicide attempts 0:36:29 "There is a big difference between reactive and premeditated" 0:38:05 "I heard a voice that wasn't mine" 0:46:09 1lb a day for men's suicide prevention 0:51:00 Men's suicide and the cost of being told to toughen up 0:53:50 Reasons to Stay: writing letters to people who are reaching out 0:54:13 You have no idea how good it can get 0:57:08 Firefighting 0:58:33 2 kids from his safety class didn't make it out 1:13:36 What he does now: crisis de-escalation, men's coaching 1:21:43 "Don't doubt the addicts" 1:23:04 Mama Bird pushes the babies out of the nest

Shannon Hatfield grew up in section 8, her dad in federal prison, and her mom spent 2 decades working through OxyContin, black market heroin, and finally fentanyl. She's now a chiropractor running Evolve Sport and Spine working with professional athletes and anyone needing help. Shannon talks about what growing up inside that house actually looked like: finding her mom nodding out with cigarettes on her chest, being brought to the ER as the "normal daughter" so her mom could look functional enough to get Dilaudid, building boundaries as she got older, and being told "you think you're better than us" every time she took a step towards furthering her education. Her brother was also deep in meth and heroin while she was in college. Shannon gets into the medical philosophy that came out of all of it: the system was made so that over-prescription is the rule not the exception, the insurance model is broken by design, and her job is to sit with people long enough to actually figure out what's wrong. My Parents' Addictions Led Me To Become A Doctor w/ Shannon Hatfield | The Hopeaholics Podcast #356 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00 - Cold open: "people just want to be heard"  2:51 - "Both my parents were addicts" 3:26 - Her mom's path: Vicodin to OxyContin to heroin to fentanyl 4:14 - The call from the OC sheriff: her mom was gone 4:33 - Nine months later: dad on life support 6:34 - First NFL client after graduating 6:51 - Flying to Texas to take boards one month after her dad died 7:32 - Why she practices the way she does: root cause, not symptom 15:21 - Growing up in section 8 16:45 - Finding her mom nodding out 17:40 - Being used as a prop at the hospital 18:03 - Building walls, getting called "you think you're better than us" 19:25 - Her brother in the thick of meth psychosis 23:46 - How she turned trauma into fuel instead of an excuse 28:41 - Her parents once sent her to AA 38:19 - Evolve Sport and Spine: what she does differently 46:52 - "At any given moment we have the choice to change direction"

Noel Arevalo returns to the show to talk about three things she's been sitting with: how your breakthrough gives the people closest to you permission to do the same, how deep alcohol gets woven into your identity without you ever noticing, and how the people, places, and patterns that were dragging you down start to fall away naturally once you surrender the thing that was holding it all together. For 15 years Noel Arevalo cycled through bender weekends while running a fitness coaching business and telling herself she had it under control. Two and a half years ago she finally let it go. Since then, her brother and older sister have both gotten sober. She talks about what she does today to stay grounded without a 12-step program, and what it actually feels like to say "I am so proud of myself" and have it mean something for the first time, and what do you do when someone you love looks too far gone to everyone around them? Breaking A Generational Addiction Curse w/ Noel Arevalo | The Hopeaholics Podcast #355 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Intro 0:04:19 - The 3 things she came here to share 0:05:59 - The bender cycle that started at 13 0:07:01 - Addiction on both sides of her family 0:11:57 -  People, places, and patterns that sabotage you start to fall away 0:13:52 - Chad: meth was his drug of choice; the one promise of NA is freedom 0:20:39 - The person who went sober with her for 10 months — and what happened after 0:23:38 - What she does today: cold plunge, church, gym — no 12 steps 0:37:09 - There's someone very close to her currently struggling 0:38:31 - "Nobody is too far gone" 0:44:51 - Chad's his mom was scared to come to his house — she thought they'd find him dead 0:51:19 - "I'm in this chair because people have prayed for me my entire life" 0:57:27 - What we tell ourselves we'd never say out loud to another person 1:04:42 - "Your mind quits before your body does" 1:06:01 - Closing

(TW ED) My ED Caused Heart Failure & Almost Killed Me w/ Kate Avnaim | The Hopeaholics Podcast #354 Kate Avnaim's father was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was just 6 months old. When Kate was 13 they found it had spread through his whole brain. He chose quality time over more rounds of chemo. She was furious at him but she just didn't understand yet. He passed away and her mom was laid off right after, leaving Kate stuck in a permanent feeling that there was nothing in her life she could control. But she found 1 thing she could control and her eating disorder started shortly after.  When her mom took her to the doctor, Kate hid it, wore a weighted vest under her clothes to fake the scale. They still knew something was wrong. They couldn't draw blood from her arm. She was diagnosed with bradycardia, a dangerously low heart rate, with fallouts happening in her sleep. Doctors told her mom on the spot: she needs to go to the hospital right now. No going home first. No packing a bag. The average hospital stay for what she had is one to two weeks. Kate was there for 35 days, on complete bed rest. After that, an online recovery program at home for 8 hours a day for about a month. Kate has since picked up training and has fallen in love with helping others see the potential within themselves and to hopefully be symbol of hope for others who are battling the same things she did growing up. National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline — 1-866-662-1235 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 06:48 — Dad diagnosed with brain cancer 07:53 — Remove the tumor and lose everything, or 7 more years 10:43 — The beginning of losing control. 11:11 — Mom laid off right after his death 15:36 — No prior body image issues 17:22 — The eating disorder started 17:51 — Wore a weighted vest to fake the scale at the doctor's office 18:34 — No blood could be drawn from her arm 19:29 — Bradycardia: dangerously low heart rate 21:24 — Hating the mirror, isolating from everyone 21:44 — 35 days in the hospital 22:48 — Online recovery program at home 23:13 — Feeling proud of her body for the first time 27:05 — ED are addiction. Once you start, you cannot stop 29:50 — Screaming at anyone who tried to help. 38:07 — Relationship with God 39:52 — Got mad at God after dad died 50:07 — Eight months recovered 52:09 — What would my dad be thinking watching me in the hospital? 54:29 — God gave you this body to use 56:03 — Exercise as a blessing instead of a punishment 1:00:22 — What would you tell someone silently struggling right now?

We Fell In Love Thanks To Sobriety w/ Nic And Ant (@nic_n_ant) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #353 Nicole and Anthony one of the most recognized and popular sober/recovery couples in social media. They met in a recovery meeting in 2018. She had six years and he was 60 days out of detox. His first year clean was a mess. Lies, cheating, not working a program. Both going through divorces simultaneously, his kids hating Nicole, his ex-wife's family leaving homewrecker comments in the comment section for years. They broke up and kept finding their way back.  Nicole got clean at 21. Before that: 92 pounds, homeless, sheets over every mirror because she couldn't look at herself, months in the same blue dress without showering. Five arrests starting at 19 — selling drugs on felony probation, assault with a deadly weapon, possession. Stealing painkillers off a dying aunt on hospice and still not stopping. Anthony's path started with a work injury and a prescription. Heroin, then speed, then the needle. He took his son to baseball practice, dropped him off, and sat in the car getting high. He left his family mid-vacation in Montauk, drove four hours home to pawn the Rolex his wife had saved up to buy him, and went on a two-day run. When he came back, she told him: get help or you'll never see these kids again.  Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics  https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction.  Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com  Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics  Our Merch:  https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 00:00 — Cold open 01:38 — Introducing Nick and Ant 06:15 — How they met 12:47 — 11/11/22: the wedding date and the angel number 14:25 — Co-parenting: from hatred to "we love each other today" 15:57 — His kids found out through TikTok before he told anyone 17:53 — Nicole steals Donna's number and reaches out three times 25:26 — Meetings versus actually working the steps 33:01 — Nicole's story: approaching 14 years, 22nd birthday in rehab 37:48 — From the cheerleading squad to selling drugs in the projects at 3am 41:47 — How she met her ex-husband: both smoking crack 44:24 — Got everything she thought she wanted. Was miserable. 50:08 — Anthony's story: 43rd birthday in rehab, now 52 54:37 — Work injury to first prescription addiction 57:44 — The slide to heroin 58:59 — Going to work to steal 59:46 — Dropping his son at baseball practice and getting high in the car 1:00:25 — Left his family in Montauk, drove four hours home to pawn the Rolex 1:02:19 — In detox, calling his wife: "I just want to get high one more time" 1:04:43 — Wife hands him the phone. Bed opens Monday. His eyes lit up. 1:06:11 — The day the obsession lifted 1:20:11 — Why they went public about their recovery 1:30:43 — The anonymity question 1:35:15 — Recovery coaches bashing 12-step and charging money 1:39:59 — What would you tell your past self? 1:42:18 — Work a program or we're not getting married